Aircraft intercommunication system



Nov.17,1936. G, L HUNT 2,060,806

AIRCRAFT INTERCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM Filed Dec. 14, 1952 I INVENTOR WWW/4W 5 I BY 130m 4 Maw ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE AIRCRAFT INTERCOMMUNIGATION SYSTEM Gurney L. Hunt, Washington, D. 0.; Mabel Graybill Hunt executrix of said Gurney L. Hunt, deceased Application December 14, 1932, Serial No. 647,238 4 Claims. (01. 177-339) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) My invention relates to a system of intercomquires a degree of concentration on the part of munication particularly applicable to communian operator which detracts his attention from eating between a plurality of stations in an airor interferes with the duties. he must perform. craft, especially of the dual control and train- A misunderstanding of any message thus con- 5 ing types in which more than one member of the veyed may endanger life and property. A novice 5 crew have access to the control mechanisms. may become confused, lose his nerve and attempt An object of my invention is to provide a posito do the wrong thing regardless of information tive means of intercommunication between the given him by the methods heretofore employed. members of the crew of an aircraft that is prac- The lives of pilots and students are frequently 1o tical, simple, economical, reliable, instinctively endangered by students freezing to the duplicate recognized and responded to through the sense hand control stick, thus making it impossible for of-touch, supplemented by those of sight and the pilot to properly manipulate the control at hearing, as desired. his station. At a critical moment, this freezing Another object of this invention is to provide an to the control is liable to cause serious conseintercommunication system in association with quences. Even when equipped with telephone 15 aircraft control mechanisms whereby the instanhead sets, commands given by the pilot are either taneous transfer of intelligence from one station misunderstood or fail to register in moments of to another is possible without detracting an operintense concentration or imminent danger. Meators attention from his duties in connection chanical devices for disconnecting the duplicate with the control of said aircraft but, instead, ascontrol while in the air have been tried out and 20 sisting' him in the performance of those duties. found unsatisfactory due to their complicated A further object of my invention is the prodesign and unreliability. Furthermore, these demoting of safety, especially in connection with vices must be manually operated by the pilot aircraft operating instructions given to students which, when time is a vital consideration, makes and in the guidance of inexperienced, hence nonthem of little or no value. Therefore, in the reliable, operators. absence of any method or device that can be The above and other objects, which will appear relied upon to instantly cause a student to reas the description of my invention is developed, lease a frozen control, pilots have been comare attained through the construction, combinapelled at times to resort to physical means not tion and arrangement of certain electrical equiponly painful, but sometimes humiliating, parment as hereinafter fully described and illustrated ticularly if a woman student is involved.

in the accompanying drawing. In order to overcome these deficiencies, the Referring to the drawing: method and means provided by my invention Fig. l shows the application of my invention have been developed so that instinctive subconto the dual control sticks of an aircraft; scious response of one operator to the will and 35 Fig. 2 represents the system applied to a pludesires of another is assured and made positive rality of stations; by the employment of apparatus embodying the Fig. 3 is a schematic wiring diagram of the cirprinciples set forth herein. cuit used inFig.1; Referring to the accompanying drawing, in

4,0 Fig.4illustrates the systemwhere sight or hearthe arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Ill and II are ing may be substituted or combined simultanethe dual controls of an aircraft, 10 being the ously with touch for activating responses at a master control and, H the auxiliary or student second or plurality of stations; control. A wire l2 leads from the battery l3 Fig. 5 is a side view in detail of the switch 40 through a rheostat M to pushbutton I5 located A5 n Fig. 4. on control stick Ill. The pushbutton l5 can be 5 It is known that systems of intercommunicaoperated instantly without interfering with any tion have been employed between stations of movements of controls IE1 or II. Another wire aircraft including prearranged meanings of arm I6 leads from the pushbutton l5 through the inmotions, exchange of written messages between terrupter and primary of an induction coil H to 5o operators, and interphone communication systhe other terminal of battery 13. One end of the 5 terns. These, however, are inherently susceptible secondary of coil I1 is connected by wire l8 to to misunderstanding, delay and interference due the metal plate H! on the end of control stick to the locations of such stations in aircraft and H. The other end of the secondary of coil l1 external noises of considerable volume. Furis connected to ground which may be the fusethermore, the interpretation of such messages relage of the aircraft. 55

The operator on control [0, by contacting the pushbutton l5 and adjusting the rheostat M, can transmit to the touch of the assistant or student operator at control H, signals or shocks of varying intensity and duration subject to the capacity of the current used. By this means, the pilot can indicate the improper manipulation of the other control by means of transmitting to the operator in error an electrical shock of sufiicient intensity to apprise him of his error. By the use of prearranged signals, the student can also be informed as to the corrective measures to be taken. By increasing the intensity of the current through rheostat M, a greater shock is transmitted to the student indicating that the latter is to release the control. Where the irritation caused by the increased current is sufficiently strong, the student will instinctively release his hold on the control, especially if inclined through fright to freeze thereto.

The extension of the above system to a plurality of stations or controls is shown in Fig. 2 Where, with similar parts numbered as before, I9, 20, 2|, 22 and 23 represent connections to the other stations or controls, it being understood that such connections terminate in metal plates, bells, buzzers or lights so as to command an operators attention at these stations through the senses of touch, hearing or sight. The shock received by touching one of the energized controls will tend to prevent its operation. Error in manipulation of the desired control may be indicated as before by cutting that control in on the circuit.

The schematic wiring diagram of the circuit used in Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 3. This diagram is self-explanatory in view of the foregoing disclosure.

The use of audible and visible indications in addition to tactile is shown in Fig. 4, where is a three-contact switch taking the place of pushbutton l5, 4! is a bell or buzzer, 42 a light, and other reference characters indicate similar parts as before. Switch 40 may be operated to supply current to either the bell, light, or metal plate individually; or to supply current to them all simultaneously. Switch 40, which may be mounted in control member It, comprises push buttons 43, 44, 45, mounted in bar 46, which has fixed to it a strip 41 of conducting material connected to battery l3, the bar being normally urged outwardly by springs 52. Secured to strip 41 are spring contact members 48 that are, respectively, movable by the push buttons to close supports individually through contacts 49, 50 and Si to bell 4|, light 42, on shocker plate 19. When it is desired to actuate all three signals simultaneously bar 46 is pushed in as a unit, against the resistance of springs 52 to close supports through all of the contacts 49, 58, 5|. Devices i9, 4| and 42 may be present at the same station or at separate stations. In this manner, the senses of sight and hearing may be utilized for purposes as hereinbefore described instead of that of touch in situations when the latter might not be feasible or desirable, or may supplement the latter to render a warning more apparent.

It will be understod that the above description and accompanying drawing comprehend only the general and preferred embodiments of my invention and that various changes in the construction, proportion and arangement of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims without sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

The herein described invention may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a safety apparatus for dual control aircraft having a master control stick for operation by a master pilot and an auxiliary control stick for operation by an auxiliary pilot and interconnected with said master control stick for movement in unison therewith, the combination of a primary low tension direct current circuit including a circuit interrupting device and a manually operable switch mounted on said master control stick within convenient access to the master pilot; and a secondary high tension electric circuit electrically coupled with said low tension primary circuit and including an electrode mounted on said auxiliary control stick for engagement with the hand of the auxiliary pilot, said secondary high tension circuit being adapted, when said switch on the master control stick is closed, to deliver an electric shock through said electrode of sufiicient intensity to cause the auxiliary pilot to release through subconscious muscular reaction said auxiliary control stick.

2. In a safety apparatus for dual control aircraft having a master control stick for operation by a master pilot and an auxiliary control stick for operation by an auxiliary pilot and interconnected with said master control stick for movement in unison therewith, the combination of a primary low tension electric circuit including a manually operable switch mounted within convenient access to the master pilot; and a secondary high tension electric circuit electrically coupled with said low tension primary circuit and including an electrode mounted on said auxiliary control stick for engagement with the hand of the auxiliary pilot, said secondary high tension circuit being adapted, when said switch is closed, to deliver an electric shock through said electrode of suflicient intensity to cause the auxiliary pilot to release through subconscious muscular reaction said auxiliary control stick.

3. In a safety apparatus for aircraft having interconnected dual control elements separately operated by a master pilot and an auxiliary pilot, the combination of a master control element; a primary low tension direct current electric circuit consisting of a source of electromotive force, a circuit interrupting device, a primary of an induction coil, a rheostat, and a switch member mounted on and insulated from the said master control element; an auxiliary control element interconnected with the said master con trol element for movement in unison therewith; a secondary high tension electric circuit consisting of the secondary of said induction coil, an electrode mounted on and insulated from the auxiliary control element, the body of the auxiliary pilot, and the fuselage; whereby high tension electrical impulses are capable of being transmitted through said electrode of suificient intensity to cause the auxiliary pilot to release through subconscious muscular reaction said auxiliary control element.

4. In a safety apparatus for aircraft having interconnected dual control elements separately operated by a master pilot and an auxiliary pilot, the combination of a master control element; a primary low tension electric circuit consisting of a source of electromotive force, a primary of an induction coil, a rheostat, and a switch member mounted within convenient access to the master pilot; an auxiliary control element interconnected with the said master control element for movement in unison therewith; a secondary high tension electric circuit consisting of the secondary of said induction coil, an electrode mounted on and insulated from the auxiliary control element, the body of the auxiliary pilot, and the fuselage; whereby high tension electrical impulses are capable of being transmitted through said electrode of sufiicient intensity to cause the auxiliary pilot to release through subconscious musoular reaction said auxiliary control element.

GURNEY L. HUNT. 

